A Harmless Winter Vacation
by Hannah Lynn McDonald
Summary: What if Henry were to die somewhere where the only body of water is completely frozen over? Jo's POV.


**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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><p>Smiling, Jo shook her head and poured two mugs of hot cocoa. Beside the door, Henry and Abe were slowly ridding themselves of the snow-soaked and frozen layers of clothing they had wrapped up in. Nearly five hours ago, all three had gone outside to play in the snow that had fallen overnight, at Henry's insistence. Jo had come in two hours ago to warm up, but the men – boys, rather – had remained outside; and she suspected they had <em>another<em> snowball fight. Now, apparently, they had finally gotten cold enough to come back inside and thaw out a bit.

Hanging up some of their thawing garments in a back room, she grinned as she heard them talking.

"You cheated."

"I did no such thing, Abraham Morgan!" Henry's voice turned confused, "How can one even cheat in a snowball fight?"

"Age, definitely – you're supposed to go easy on the younger kids."

"Oh, of course – because you do that so well."

"Alright, fine – then elder men."

"Ah, but Abe..."

Jo started laughing, listening to their friendly bickering. Pouring herself a cup of cocoa, she moved into the living room, curling up in her blanket on the sofa.

"So, let me guess who won the snowball fight..."

"If you think Henry did, you're wrong – it was a tie."

"He surrendered." Henry loudly whispered to her.

"I did not surrender! It was a strategic retreat to gain better ground."

"Oh, of course. Better ground beneath trees without snow."

Abe took a sip of his cocoa and ignored Henry. When the Detective and the Doctor began laughing, he gave up and joined them – promising to beat Henry later.

"Do you still have your skates? It's quite cold enough for the pond to be frozen over – perhaps we may go out later."

Abe nodded. "Yes, and I packed them – did you?"

"No. But I found my box upstairs with my skates, some sheet music, a necklace I had planned to give you mother, and my old chess set."

Suddenly, Henry turned the conversation to Jo. "Have you ever played chess?"

"No, not really. Someone tried to explain it to me once, but I was too busy to learn it. Isn't it like checkers?"

Henry grimaced, standing up. "Not particularly – here." He handed his mug to Abe. "I'll be back in a moment."

When the doctor left, Jo turned back to Abe, and took the mug from him to set beside her on the side table. "So, what is he doing?"

"Probably going to get the old chess set that we left here."

"Left here – chess set?"

"We had to leave this house quickly, and didn't bring everything. Yes, chess set; probably to teach you."

"Teach me?" Her voice rose a little.

"Well, if you don't want to, I can always play against him – maybe I'll even win for once!"

She grinned. "Have you ever won before?"

"About five times – maybe. And I'm not sure that all of those were by my own prowess..."

She took a sip of her cocoa, and stirred it up a little. "Have you been playing-" She broke off suddenly as a loud crash echoed from the direction of the stairs. Setting her mug aside, she pushed off the blanket and got up to check on what made the noise, hearing Abe making ready to follow her.

"Henry!" She gasped, stopping abruptly and barely feeling Abe stumble into her. Grumbling, Abe moved around her, only to fall silent when he saw his father lying at the foot of the steps.

Snapping out of her shock, Jo moved forward, kneeling beside the doctor. She could tell that he was conscious, but he seemed to be struggling to breath. "Henry? Are you alright? What's wrong?"

He didn't answer her, but she could see that he was trembling.

'Hey, Henry – Dad. It's okay." Abe knelt beside her and laid a hand on Henry's head. "Just close your eyes, it'll be over soon."

"Over soon?" Jo jerked her head up to look at Abe, and faltered at how tired he suddenly looked.

"It's fine, Dad – you're at our house; only Jo and I are here." He gave a wry laugh. "Mom always did tell you to nail that carpet down; you never got around to it."

Jo listened to Abe talk, trying to ignore the choked gasps for breath beneath them. Within a few moments, Henry's eyes slid shut and Abe fell silent; although he didn't get up.

"Abe – what happened?"

"He must have tripped on the loose carpet at the top of the stairs." He absently reached out to gather up the chess pieces that littered the floor. "He broke his neck in the fall, and he'll -" Abe broke off with a horrified look, abruptly dropping the pieces and pulling himself off the floor. "He'll reappear..."

She looked up at him in confusion. "Isn't that a good thing? That he comes back?"

"Yes, yes, of course... But the pond's frozen over – he won't survive."

"Then why doesn't he just reappear in a river – those generally take longer to freeze." She got up and followed Abe, smothering the guilt she felt at leaving the unconscious Doctor alone.

"There isn't one close enough. He always reappeared in that pond. Could never figure out why, other than that it was a body of water deeper than a man's height." He pulled on his winter clothes again. "But this far north at this time of year, it'll be frozen and he won't ever get to breathe."

She began pulling on her own winter garments, following Abe out of the house; glancing back once to see that the body was gone, and all that remained were scattered chess pieces. "He's gone, Abe."

"Yeah, I know." He rummaged through a bin sitting waiting behind the house, finally pulling out some tools, including an old saw.

She ran after him. "But how are you going to break up the ice?"

"I don't have to break it all up – just a certain part. He usually reappears in the same six by six foot area, so we just have to cut the ice off from that."

She paled. "We have to cut through thirty-six feet of ice?"

He led the way out onto the pond. "Yes. And the faster, the better." He quickly drew a box on the ice. "That's where we have to cut."

She took a deep breath, refusing to think of what might be beneath the ice at that moment. "Okay. What do we do first."

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><p>It seemed to take forever to cut through the ice, but Jo refused to think of the time – that would just bring up thoughts she didn't want to face. Finally, the last cut was made and the block of ice was free.<p>

Breathing heavily, she let the saw fall from her hands. "Now...what do we...do?" Resting her hands on her knees, she looked up at Abe. "Do we...lift it..out of the water?"

"Oh, no – much too hard. No, just push it down beneath the ice – it'll stay out of the way."

Nodding mutely, she pulled off her gloves and pushed down on the block of ice. Abe used the end of the saw to hold down the other; and soon the prescribed area of water was clear.

"Now what?"

"Now, we wait." He trudged back to shore to fetch the heavy, woolen blanket he had gotten from the house earlier.

Jo knelt on the ice beside the water, ignoring the snow melting through her trousers. Seconds after Abe returned with the blanket, Henry broke through the water with a shuddering gasp. Immediately, he sank back beneath the water, and Abe ordered her to pull him out.

When she pulled him out onto the ice and Abe wrapped the blankets around him, Henry started coughing; throwing up the water he had inhaled as he had given up without a fight. Jo rubbed his back, worried when he didn't respond to anyone.

"Hey, Henry." Abe bent down into the doctor's view. "Come on, snap out of it. You need to get up to the house before you die of hypothermia; and neither Jo nor I can carry you. Come on, get up." He reached down to pull his father up.

Jo wanted to protest at Abe's seeming callousness to what Henry had just been through, but she knew he was right – Henry had to get warmed up, and they couldn't get him up there to the house on their own.

Carrying the tools, she trailed up after the two men. As Abe helped Henry into the house, she replaced the tools into the box Abe took them from. Standing there in the snow, alone, she let herself cry for a moment, the sob forcing her to the ground. If this was what Abe had to go through all of the time, she feared for his sanity – although, at the moment, she should probably be more worried for Henry's.

When the cold air began to cut through her inert form, she roused herself and stood up. Composing herself, she went into the house, shedding and hanging up her wet clothes. Briskly rubbing her hands together to warm them, she stepped hesitantly into the living room.

Henry was dressed, and wrapped up in at least one new coverlet. He held a scalding cup of tea in his hands, but wasn't drinking it; instead staring into the flames of the fire. Abe was refilling his own teacup again, offering one to her.

"Yes, please." She took the cup, smiling as the heat seeped into her fingers. "Will he be okay?"

"Physically? Sure. Mentally?" Abe took another gulp of tea. "I'm still waiting for him to realise that he's alive..."

She looked at him in confusion. "How can he not know he's alive?"

"He already knew the pond was frozen over – probably realised it when you found him – and he knew it would take awhile to cut a hole. Did he ever tell you what happened after he first died?"

"...He found a way back to England, and Nora locked him in an asylum?"

"He couldn't swim."

"What does that have – oh." She winced. "Nevermind..."

"Yeah. So I'm not even certain he's in the present right now."

"This should be...fun." She finished her tea quickly and set the cup down. "I'm going to go talk with him."

"You do that, I'll be in here if you need me..."

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><p>"Henry?" She knelt beside him. "Henry, can you hear me?"<p>

He dragged his eyes away from the fire, taking a deep breath.

"Henry, are you alright?"

He blinked, and his eyes began to focus. "...Jo?"

She sighed in relief. "Yes, Henry – it's me."

He nodded, accepting it. "How long?"

"Pardon?"

"How long was I trapped?" He looked away from her back into the fire, taking a sip of tea.

"...I really couldn't -"

"Over ninety minutes!" Abe called from the kitchen.

Henry nodded his thanks, finishing the tea. "She isn't even here anymore, and she still gets the right to say 'I told you so'." He smiled faintly.

Jo frowned. If anyone else was in a situation like this, she would have recommended therapy of some sort, whether it be professional or casual. Actually, she amended herself, if it had been anyone else, she would be planning to attend a funeral; and that's what made this so much more complicated.

"Is the chess set safe?" Abruptly, he turned to look at her again, and he looked perfectly normal again.

She blinked. "You just..died. Repeatedly. And you want to know if a chess set is safe?"

"It was a very important set – a gift from an old friend..." His voice trailed off and the smile fell from his face. "I'm alive – this is real..."

She nodded. "Yes."

He reached to grab her hand. "You...are actually here..."

She nodded, and then frowned. "You didn't think we'd leave you – did you?"

He frowned. "No, of course I did not."

"Henry. Lying's wrong." Abe poked his head into the living room, and then came out with the teapot to refill Henry's cup. "Yes, you did."

"Abe, you were barely over ten when we lived here -"

"Yeah, so? I'll have you know my memory's still a steel trap – I can remember everything just fine."

Henry took a sip of tea, and Jo could see him settling back into his skin; into the realisation that he was no longer trapped beneath the ice. He tilted his head at Abe. "Everything?"

"Meh – close enough."

The doctor glanced towards the stairs and the chess pieces still littering the ground. "Was it here that you killed me, or was that in another house?"

Abe hesitated. "Would you believe me if I told you it never happened?" When Henry shook his head disapprovingly, Abe answered himself, "No, I didn't think you would."

Jo looked between to two, trying to decide how the situation had gone from near-panic attack to a normal, family conversation. "You...killed him?"

"Well, that's what he says anyway. I still deny all allegations of the sort." Abe left the room and began gathering up the chess pieces, muttering about all of the extra work he had to do.

"Henry?"

He smiled. "Oh, 'tis a long joke. Abe had been playing with some of his toys and would neglect to put them away. Abigail would scold him about it, saying that they would be the death of someone; but it never gave him the incentive to pick them up on his own.

"It was night, and the stairs were quite dark; and I tripped over the toys. Thankfully, it was spinal shock instead of suffocation or paralysation, but nevertheless... Abigail and I never told him, but he heard us come inside; and he always picked up his toys after that. She often teased me afterward that we should implement that system more often as it seemed to gain good results."

"Wow. Remind me again why you don't have a phobia of stairs?"

"Water is much, much worse – I cannot be trapped on the stairs."

"Oh." She sighed, feeling the conversation drift back onto unstable ground.

"Jo?"

She looked back up.

"I did know you and Abe would come, eventually. I knew you wouldn't leave me there 'til spring."

All was silent for a few moments until he was certain that she believed him; then he brightened up, setting his cup aside and acting as if nothing traumatic had happened. Holding out his hands, he accepted the box that Abe handed him. "Now, for that game of chess..."

Jo watched him begin to set up the pieces, amazed that he could practically just set things aside aside on a whim and forget about them.

"Henry, play with Abe first." She smiled, wrapping her blanket back around herself. "I'll watch and learn."

"Oh, good." Abe sat down across from his father, rubbing his hands together and studying the board. "Now, I will win."

Henry laughed. "Improbably – but I'll concede that it isn't impossible." Having the white side, he began to make his first move – but Abe stopped him.

"Hey, wait. This isn't right..." He switched the placing of his knights, bishops, and several pawns. Sitting back, he grinned. "Now I'll win."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Abraham, they're just pieces – the opening placement has no bearing upon the outcome."

"I'll have you know that I get more pieces when they're set up this way – would you just play already?"

Jo laughed at their antics as Henry moved his first piece, content to watch them and listen to Henry's explanations. Sometimes, in the long run, things couldn't be dealt with in the moment. Sometimes, they needed to be boxed away until later; and never opened alone.

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><p><em>AN: Well, obviously, the title is false... This is just a story idea I've had on my computer for a month now, I just polished it here. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I apologise for mistakes of flow or anything else. Gramercy, and God bless! Namárië!<em>


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